Armenian Cucumbers

I am only sort of into cucumbers.  If you slather them with some kind of bad-for-you dip, or use them to flavor water, then I really enjoy them.  But if you just hand me a bit of cucumber, I’d rather not.  Trust me you, I want to love cucumbers because they are light and refreshing and make you stay skinny but, they just don’t quite do it for me plain.

So, it make sense that I am growing a giant Armenian cucumber plant, right?  Not really.  Sandra bought one of those six packs last winter from some nursery and gave me two of the plants.  Now, I rarely, if ever, reject a plant.  So, I stuffed the two plants in with my strawberries.  One of the plants met an early death, but the other, well, that is a whole other story.  It is mega!

What’s that?  You’ve never heard of an Armenian cucumber.  Well, me either.  I am still trying to figure out why Sandra bought this plant in the first place.  I mean, both of us live in little apartments and have very limited growing spaces.  Most cucumbers need to be trellised, and that, my dear reader, is just too much work.

Now, the Armenian cucumber is actually not really a cucumber.  It’s in the melon family and just tastes and sort of looks like a cucumber—a mega cucumber.  These babies can be 3 feet long!  According to my sources, if you have ever seen “Pickled Wild Cucumber” in a middle eastern store, you were looking at Armenian Cucumber.  Anyone had this delicacy?

They are thin skinned and don’t need to be peeled.  Just wash, slice, and enjoy.  My plant has so far yielded one major cucumber.  I think it was over a foot when I picked it.  I had to give half to my mom because no way was this girl going to eat over a foot of cucumber.

Pollination Troubles-

I am a tad concerned that I have only had one mature fruit.  There are loads and loads of flowers and the darn plant keeps getting bigger and bigger.  It has attached itself to several of my tomato plants and is growing down and over my fencing.  It doesn’t have to be trellised (if you trellis the plant, it will give you really straight fruits, if you let it go wild, the fruit will curve) but my plant is in such a place that it can cascade down several feet.  So, I’ve been trying to pollinate the plant by pulling off the male flowers and rubbing them into the female flowers.  Weird, I know.  Especially since there is a serious ant farm living in the planter with the strawberries and cucumber.  I figured with all these ants walking up and down the stalks, the flowers would surely be pollinated.  Not so much.  

Pest Problems-

Damn those spider mites.  They are loving the Armenian cucumber, and strangely, the ants are loving the spider mites.  Have you ever heard of bug-eating ants?  I have been trying to organically control the spider mite population by spraying them with jets of water.  It actually seems to be working. 

Overall, I’d say this is a very satisfying plant to grow.  It just gets so big, there is something new to look at every day.  So if you are into cucumbers and giant plants, this one is for you.  AND it seems to enjoy growing in a container. 

I’ll try to post a picture the next time I pick one of them. 

Name that Cacti!

Botanical names are incredibly difficult to remember-seriously, difficult to remember.   I took a trip over to the good ole public library this morning because it really isn't acceptable to spend so much money on books you can read for free. Though the library was rather disorienting and left me with a sour stomach (HURRY UP RECOVERY), I managed to find both the botany section and gardening section (they are in totally different aisles and many of the books were very similar).  I have been dying to know the names of all my little cacti guys so, I checked out one of the many picture books of succulents (seriously the books were scattered between the botany and gardening and they were just a load of pretty pictures with captions).  Despite the many pictures, the book I chose only identified two of my plants: Echeveria derenbergii and Pleiospilos nelii.  Remember what I said about botanical names.  I'll save the Echeveria for another post.  This one is all about the Pleiospilos Nelii-- lets call it the Ple-Nel for short.

Not a Living Stone At All

I have been referring to this plant under the common name of Living Stone.  That is just plain wrong, or so I've learned.   The common name is Split Rock; Living Stone is the common name for the Lithops variety of succulents.  The two look very similar and are actually in the same family.  The Ple-Nel is fully above ground with pale green leaves (and by leaves, I mean two bulbous chunks of cactus) that have little raised dark speckles.  It flowers in the spring (unlike the lithops which flowers in winter) and can have more than one flower, as my plant does (again unlike the lithops which only ever have a single flower per leave pair).

You have to love the internet: I search for the Ple-Nel and loads of sites pop up--and they all contradict one another.  Some say it is really hard to grow this plant and people kill them left and right, while other praise the ease of growing the plant.  A few talk about the difficulty in getting it to flower and some just talk about flowering as if it is nothing to worry about.  Here is my take:

1.  Buy one (I think mine came from Lowes, but possibly home depot)

2.  I then mixed some little rocks with soil and sand (no precise measuring here, I just threw in what I had).

3.  Find a container.

4. Put the plant in the container with the soil mixture

5.  Stick it in the sun.

6. Ignore the plant for most of the year.

7.  When it rains, it gets watered.  Other than that, I water the cacti at my apartment once a blue moon (perhaps every two months)

Now, I live in So Cal, so it rarely rains.  Do I fertilize you ask-- heck no! Why? because I'm not fixing what isn't broken.  And that is the secret.

Preserving Acorn Squash Seeds

KD is sick. Time to make some good soup. I saw a great recipe in my Food and Wine magazine (Nov. 09 issue) for Creamy Carrot Soup with Scallions and Poppy Seeds and I also remember another magazine recipe for Carrot-Butternut Squash soup (can't recall which magazine, I get so many!). So, inspired by these recipes, I am going to make Carrot, Leek, Acorn Squash soup with Scallions and Poppy Seeds.

A few minutes ago, I cracked open the acorn squash (using the chefs knife and rubber mallet trick) and scooped out the seeds. Though I have roasted these seeds in the past-like 4 days ago- I am not a big fan. But, I just don't want to throw them away.

I whipped on the Internet to see if I could save the seeds for the garden next spring. Of course. Of course, the Internet is teeming with info about this.

Bottom line. Clean the seeds. Put them on a newspaper, cloth, paper towel (basically something absorbent). Let them dry. Then when they are dry. Put them on new absorbent material. Stick them in a cool dry place for about a week to really dry out. Then stick them in a bag or foil and save them until next spring. Done and done. Here is a nice little article, short and sweet about it.

I'll give it a try! Can't hurt, it will be an experiment.

Marjoram in the Garden

As it turns out, I have no recollection of ever actually cooking with marjoram. For some reason, though, I thought it was about time have some in my fall herb (container) garden. I spent about 3 dollars on a 4 inch marjoram plant (I also bought an oregano plant because I have failed in growing it from seed). As I reflect, I am certain I made a mistake because, rather than start with new soil, I just re-used the dirt from my summer garden without adding any compost or other type of fertilizer. (I'll have to remedy the situation soon). Not a great way to start off the fall herb garden.

I have another confession to make: I also planted this small (consisting only of oregano and marjoram) herb garden in a giant pot. The pot that housed two tomato plants and a marigold.

Despite shortcomings, the plants seem to be thriving. The marjoram is all about flowering. I also planted some basil seeds, sage seeds, green onion seeds, parsley, and chive seeds... I figure, why the hell not. So far, several basil seeds have germinated. The green onions are a few inches tall and there are a few parsley sprouts. Time will tell if these guys hang on.

I digress.

Origanum Majorana. Genus Origanum (think marjoram and oregano). Family Lamiaceae (think basil, thyme, lavender, rosemary, oregano,mint). Marjoram and oregano are of the same genus and are strikingly similar, even difficult to tell apart. There are thought to be 44 species of origanum (yikes! Some plants are tall, some spreading, some are conveniently used as ground cover for their anchoring qualities) The two can be used interchangeably in cooking (if your palate isn't too discerning). Marjoram is generally milder than oregano and some people, including me, describe it as having a citrus taste with floral hints. The flowers of oregano are purple/lavender, while, marjoram has white flowers.

According to Sunset Magazine, Sweet Marjoram needs well drained soil and only moderate water (I am never sure what that means exactly). It is a perennial or annual, depending on where you live (I have a perennial). It is supposedly easy to grow and likes to be really trimmed several times a year.

Here is an interesting tidbit: what you and I think of as Italian Oregano (or the stuff in pasta and pizza sauces) usually a cross between Origanum Vulgare (oregano) and Origanum Majorana (sweet marjoram). Real oregano is commonly called 'wild marjoram.' Oh, and if some one refers to 'sweet oregano,' they are talking about marjoram. Just fantastic. If you want some regular peppery tasting oregano, try 'Greek oregano.' If you want really spicy oregano find some za'atar, a spicy Middle Eastern oregano (yes, the sauce is named after the main ingredient). I was wondering about Mexican Oregano, so I did a search. Turns out to be a whole other source of confusion (try out this article if you are curious). In a nutshell, it is not in the Origanum genus or even the Lamiaceae family, rather it is in the Verbenaceae family (think lemon verbena).

My very smart friend Samin, suggested I dry some of my marjoram and oregano by hanging stems upside down in a dry dark spot. Sounds like fun. I will take pictures of the process. I am thinking everyone gets some oregano and marjoram under the Christmas tree (hey, we are in a recession...).

Now I just need a few vegetarian suggestions for casual uses for marjoram and I am in business. Anyone?

Some Links:

Check out the Herb Society of America's Guide to the Genus Origanum.

A great article about marjoram and oregano from Sunset Mag.

Growing Marjoram

Black Caterpillar in Marigold

Sorry for the silence for the last two weeks or so. I was off visiting my granny in RI. So, thanks KD for watering. Everything is looking good over here. I have much to report about new garden items and several that I had to let go. Check back in soon!

I saw what looked like animal refuse on the petals of my marigold. Upon closer inspection I found that it was actually a jet black caterpillar. I tried to take a good picture, but ended up with this one. I wonder what kind of moth/butterfly it would have been.

P.S. You may remember my story about the 20 cent packet of seeds I bought from Wal Mart. Yes, this is the result of those seed packets. I have many wild looking marigolds!

How Tropical!

The local swap meet in SD is named Kobey's.  I have no idea why our swap meet has a proper name, but it does.  I used to go to Kobey's when I was a kid.  It contained loads of perfect finds for teenage girls.  Tons of cheap hair-thingies, bags, and backpacks.  I think I got a knock-off Esprit bag when I was in elementary school.  Ha. 

KD and I took a trip to Kobey's last weekend.  She had spotted these wrap dresses two weeks earlier when she was there.  We decided that we couldn't live without these dresses, so off we went to the swap meet.  It certainly hadn't changed much: still loads of hair-thingies.  There were some really cool booths with handmade purses and other handmade items, and there were some booths that looked like really bad yard sales- crap, crap, and crap. 

And, there were booths and booths of plants.  KD was not interested in strolling and shopping, so I could really only glance from afar.  But, I did manage to get one purchase in: a cutting from a dragon fruit for a buck.

It is likely that I will mess this up somehow.  The foot long spiny and prickly cutting is very handsome (as you can see in the pic).  But, I stuck the spine in some dirt and watered. 

Has anyone ever tasted a dragon fruit? After a terse search, I learned that these plants are quite tropical and grow in Hawaii, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Also, the flowers bloom at night so they are not pollinated by bees, but by other insects and moths.  Depending on how well my cutting does, I can expect fruit in 6-9 months. 

P.S. I also broke down and bought an Italian Oregano plant (not at Kobey's).  Planting from seed did not work out.  Has anyone had success growing oregano from seed?

Gardening With the Stars

I was in Sacramento not too long ago and picked up a local publication. It was the type of newspaper/magazine that had pages of "massage" advertisements and a story about the history of the term D-Bag; clearly high class. I flipped through the paper while I sat with KD in Pyramid Brewery eating a brownie and sipping on a Haywire Hefeweizen (for those of you wondering about the name 'Haywire', new owners = new beer names). I stumbled upon the horoscopes and took a peak. Here it is:

Let's take inventory of your harvest, Scorpio. What blossomed for you these past months? Which of the seeds you planted last March and April sprouted into ripe, succulent blossoms? Which seeds grew into hard spiky clumps? And what about weeds, pests and predators? Were you tireless about keeping them away from your beauties? Finally, what did you learn about growing things that could give you a green thumb when you cultivate your seeds in the next cycle?

How appropriate! And deep.